Chelsea will be desperate to return to winning ways when they welcome SL Benfica to Stamford Bridge for a UEFA Champions League clash on Tuesday.
The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League will resume this week with Matchday 2. The action on the day will start with two early games before continuing with seven simultaneous fixtures, including Chelsea vs SL Benfica at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea could not have asked for a worse start to the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League, as Bayern Munich handed them a 3-1 defeat on Matchday 1. The Blues have been dreadful since the international break, and they have managed only one win, which came in the EFL Cup. Otherwise, Enzo Maresca’s men have lost to Bayern, Manchester United, and Brighton & Hove Albion.
On the other hand, SL Benfica began the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League with a shock 3-2 loss to Qarabak FK, which cost Bruno Lage his job. Since then, Jose Mourinho has taken over at the Portuguese club, and the Eagles have embarked on a three-game unbeaten run. The run of results has taken Benfica to third in the Liga Portugal standings.
Chelsea and SL Benfica have previously faced off four times, with the West London club winning all four encounters. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Chelsea
Enzo Maresca has new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Chelsea manager may be bereft of the services of nearly a dozen players vs SL Benfica on Tuesday.
Maresca is sweating over the fitness of Moises Caicedo, Andrey Santos, and Joao Pedro, with the trio facing late fitness tests to determine their availability. Levi Colwill (knee), Tosin Adarabioyo (calf), Wesley Fofana (head), Dario Essugo (thigh), Cole Palmer (groin), and Liam Delap (thigh) remain on the sidelines, while Mykhailo Mudryk continues his suspension after failing a doping test several months ago.
While Trevoh Chalobah will serve a suspension in the Premier League after being sent off against Brighton & Hove Albion, he is available in the UEFA Champions League. The English international will accompany Malo Gusto, Benoit Badiashile, and Marc Cucurella in the backline, with Robert Sanchez retaining his spot between the sticks.
As for the midfield unit, Reece James will line up alongside Moises Caicedo in the double pivot, with Romeo Lavia ready to start if Caicedo is not fit enough. Enzo Fernandez will reprise the no. 10 role, with Estevao Willian and Alejandro Garnacho being the two wide attackers. Finally, Joao Pedro will lead the line for Chelsea against Benfica.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Estevao, Enzo Fernandez, Garnacho; Joao Pedro
SL Benfica
Jose Mourinho has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge. The SL Benfica manager will be without only four first-team players on Tuesday night.
Enzo Barrenechea is available after missing Benfica’s weekend clash with Gil Vicente due to suspension. However, Bruma remains a long-term absentee due to his ruptured achilles, while Manu Silva and Alexander Bah are working on returning from their knee injuries. Meanwhile, Gianluca Prestianni is with Argentina at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
Anatoliy Trubin is an automatic pick between the sticks, with SL Benfica lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Chelsea on Tuesday. The backline will feature Amar Dedic, Nicolas Otamendi, Antonio Silva, and Samuel Dahl.
As for the midfield unit, Enzo Barrenechea will return to the starting eleven by lining up alongside Richard Rios in the double pivot. Georgiy Sudakov will reprise the no. 10 role, with Dodi Lukebakio and Andreas Schjelderup being the two wide attackers. Finally, the in-form Vangelis Pavlidis will spearhead the Benfica attack against Chelsea on Tuesday.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Trubin; Dedic, Otamendi, Antonio Silva, Dahl; Barrenechea, Rios; Lukebakio, Sudakov, Schjelderup; Pavlidis
Key Stats
- Chelsea have won all four competitive games vs Benfica (9-3 aggregate scoreline), with the most recent of those clashes coming earlier this year at the FIFA Club World Cup (4-1 in the round of 16).
- Benfica are winless in their last eight meetings with English teams (D3 L5), with their most recent win coming over a decade ago, against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League (3-1 in the round of 16 first leg). Meanwhile, they have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 18 games against English clubs (since a 2-0 win vs Everton in November 2009, also in the UEFA Europa League).
- Chelsea are on their longest-ever losing streak in the UEFA Champions League (three games). However, they have not lost a home game in the group/league phase of the competition since September 2019 (0-1 vs Valencia), going unbeaten in the 11 most recent matches since then (W7 D4).
- Jose Mourinho won his first-ever game as a visiting manager at Stamford Bridge, with Inter Milan beating Chelsea 1-0 in March 2010 in the UEFA Champions League. Since then, the SL Benfica boss has failed to win in his six away games against the West London club in all competitions (D2 L4). The Portuguese tactician has only won four of his 14 matches against Chelsea (D3 L7), while none of those victories have come in the seven most recent games (D3 L4), last beating them in February 2018 (Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea in the Premier League).
- Along with scoring Benfica’s opener against Qarabag on Matchday 1, Enzo Barrenechea was one of only two players who made ten or more line-breaking passes (11) and won possession ten or more times (10) in the opening round of this season’s UEFA Champions League, along with AS Monaco’s Lamine Camara.
Player to Watch
Joao Pedro
While Enzo Fernandez, Vangelis Pavlidis and Enzo Barrenechea were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Joao Pedro as the Player to Watch for Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash between Chelsea and SL Benfica at Stamford Bridge.
The Brazilian international did not attempt a shot against Bayern Munich on his UEFA Champions League debut. However, he led all players across the two teams for duels won (10), completed dribbles (3), and fouls won (4) at the Allianz Arena. The Brazilian international will hope to break his European duck this week, hoping to guide Chelsea back to winning ways.
Prediction
Chelsea 1-1 SL Benfica
Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash is a momentous occasion, as Jose Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge for the first time since leaving Tottenham Hotspur. The Portuguese tactician has been an iconic figure at the West London club, but he will draw the enemy lines when he takes Benfica to Chelsea.
The former Chelsea manager has made his mark in his early days as the Benfica boss, with the team becoming hard to beat. That trait will shine on Tuesday, as the away side will take the game to the West London club. With the Blues struggling to make their mark, the poor run may continue with another winless result. The Hard Tackle predicts a 1-1 draw between Chelsea and SL Benfica.